That Translator Can Cook: Mombar
Sheep casings stuffed with beef or lamb, rice, onion, garlic, cumin, cardamom, and various other spices.
I haven’t had the pleasure of eating this dish yet, but hopefully I will soon! I don’t know if I’ll make this dish at home because you have to stuff the casings yourself and I’m a bit squeamish. But the meat is spiced so well that I might just brave the intestines.
There are many similar yet distinct ways of stuffing sausage across North Africa and Southwest Asia:
Mombar in Egypt
Usban in Libya, Tunisia, and Algeria
Fawaregh in Lebanon, Palestine, and Jordan
Qubawat in Syria
Bajeh in Iraq and Kuwait
Merguez (from Morocco, Tunisia, Alergia, and Mauritania) is sometimes included, but it isn’t stuffed with rice
I decided to focus on mombar because….it was the first one I came upon and there are too many to choose from. Haha no special reason this time. The origins of this dish are unclear; there are too many different stories from different sources:
It dates back 5,000 years and was reportedly found in ancient Egyptian tombs.
It was created by the Ottomans.
It was created by the Bedouin tribes of the Sinai Peninsula.
While mombar is not necessarily healthy, it supposedly a low-calorie dish, though I’m not sure how fried sausage stuffed with rice could be a low-calorie dish. This is one of those dishes that you eat on your cheat days or special occasions (the two are not mutually exclusive): crispy, meaty outside and soft, fragrant rice inside. Now I’m hungry…
Here is how to make this interesting dish (recipe and picture belong to Rema)!
Ingredients
1 kilo of sheep casings (can be pig if you can eat pork)
2 cups of flour with 2 tablespoons of black pepper and 2 tablespoons of salt (to flavor the casings)
½ kilo of ground meat (beef or lamb)
2 cups of rice
6 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 onions, finely minced
½ bunch of parsley, minced
1 teaspoon of each: black pepper, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, clove, coriander, cumin, nutmeg, cubeb, and salt
A spool of thread
Bay leaves
Steps
In a big bowl, mix the flour, pepper, and salt, then put it on the sheep casings. Pour some water on top until the mixture turns runny, so that it gets inside the casings. Rub it from the outside, then wash with water, and there won’t be a problem of some mixture left on them.
In another bowl, mix the meat, rice, garlic, onion, and parsley. Then, add all the other spices and mix until it is consistent. Next, stuff the casings, but keep in mind not to stuff them too tightly or the casings will burst open when they boil. Then, tie both ends of the casings so that the filling stays inside.
Put a pot with water in it on the stove and place the bay leaves in the water. When the water begins to boil, add the casings, and let them boil for 10 minutes. Then, take a toothpick and poke small holes into the casings. Let them simmer on medium heat until they’re completely cooked.
After they're cooked through, strain the water and pour a bit of oil in a frying pan. Then, add the casings and toss until they're toasted. Place them on a platter, garnish with parsley, and serve. Bon appetit!
Translators’ Discussion
I used “casings” whenever the term ممبار (mombar) was used in the recipe, but I’m not sure if ‘mombar’ literally means ‘casings’ in [Egyptian] dialect. How would you have translated ممبار?
Much of Step 1 was a bit confusing for me and I would appreciate it if any of you who speak/translate Arabic could give me some feedback on how I translated Step 1:
ثم يضاف اليه الممبار وفوقه كمية من الماء حتى يتحول الخليط شبه سائل لكي يدخل في جوف الممبار..ويفرك به من الخارج ثم يغسل بالماء وليس هناك مشكلة من بقاء بعض المزيج فيه